


christmas roses carry no thorns

by crimsongravedigger



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-19
Updated: 2015-07-19
Packaged: 2018-04-10 04:34:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4377383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crimsongravedigger/pseuds/crimsongravedigger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is a thing, or well, a person, standing in front of the shop window. Sehun can't tell if it's a girl or a boy, but he surely can see the massive bouquet of roses held tight in tiny trembling hands.</p>
            </blockquote>





	christmas roses carry no thorns

21st December. Sehun walks into the restaurant when the clock almost hits five thirty in the morning. He's carrying a box full of decorations and new tablecloths, some vanilla-scented candles and a few colorful stickers to apply here and there so every customer can feel that Christmas is not so far. Actually, even sidewalks know Christmas is just around the corner; there are pretty lights hanging on tree branches, the sweet cinnamon smell lingers in the air and every window shop screams ' _come in and buy your damned gift before it's too late'_. It's not like Sehun hates Christmas (hello? Holidays equal more sleep and less school) but since his parents own a small restaurant right in the heart of Seoul, the least he can do is help around so they won't drown in Christmas rolls and stuffed turkeys (who the hell eats turkey in December, by the way? Gross). He drops the heavy box on a table with a loud groan and shoves his frozen hands -shit, the fingertips are turning purple- into the pockets of his black coat. He yawns and turns the lights on so he can avoid hitting things or killing himself with the sharp angles of tables (last time his hip turned blue, alright? No kidding). When his mother asked for some help, she certainly forgot to mention some details (Sehun thinks she did it on purpose) like the endless hours of preparation before the actual opening time. The last day of school he cheered at the thought of getting some good deserved sleep and the next morning there he is, at five thirty surrounded by darkness in a cold dining hall. 

Sehun crawls towards the counter with lips pressed together and sleepy eyes. He makes himself a cup of hot steamy tea and adds about a kilo of sugar before stirring it. If his memory doesn't fail him, his father left some biscuits in the kitchen. After a short trip and whispered curses (did he just hit his head against the oven?) he comes back with his frugal breakfast and sits comfortably on a stool, rubbing his sore forehead with his still frozen fingertips. When he's about to sip his tea, though, something catches his eye. There is a  _thing_ , or well, a  _person_ , standing in front of the shop window. Sehun can't tell if it's a girl or a boy, but he surely can see the massive bouquet of roses held tight in tiny trembling hands. Raising an eyebrow, he stands up and reaches for the door knob. The cold breeze hits his face like a loud slap and for a moment he thinks about shutting the door right away but oh, the pretty bouquet is shoved into his nose and a hopeful question rings into his ears.

 

"Would you like to buy a rose?"

 

Who the hell sells roses at five thirty in the morning? This boy, apparently. His voice is too deep and the bags under his eyes are too purple, his smile too tired and his clothes too thin. Sehun doesn't need anything else to figure out that he is probably homeless. Sometimes he sees people walking down the sidewalk trying to sell anything they have, from tissues to matches, just to buy a cup of coffee and maybe a cookie. Sehun's mother always tells him to find compassion in his heart, to help those who need help, to do some good in a world that's too mean. Sehun's eyes wander from the boy's messy black hair to his trembling lips and god, he must be  _so young._ He looks just like a child. A small, cold child wrapped in something that resembles a dusty rug. Sehun ends up buying two pink roses for a thousand won and his heart cringes when he sees the boy's eyes light up at the sight of the money in his gloveless hands. After a small bow and a soft ' _thanks sir_ ', the boy walks away and Sehun keeps watching him until he disappears around the corner. 

He closes the door and goes back to the counter, sitting on his wooden stool. His warm fingers play with pretty pink petals and he is genuinely surprised when he doesn't find any thorns. He puts the flowers near the register and his gaze lands on the untouched box on the table. With a sigh, Sehun takes off his coat and starts sorting things out. 

 

Among creepy stickers with Santa's face on them and few headless reindeer statues, Sehun manages to decorate the dining hall without making a mess. The only mess he makes is on himself, since it looks like he has just hugged a fairy. There's red glitter on his left cheek, white powder on his favorite sweater and color stains on his fingertips. He likes it anyway; Christmas has always been his favorite holiday and he really doesn't mind getting dirty. 

Sehun's mother comes in at ten fifteen, an angry expression on her face and a cellphone pressed violently against her bejeweled ear. It seems like the suppliers won't be able to bring enough vegetables for today because a snowstorm has been ravaging the countryside for the past three days and part of the harvest is completely ruined. Her red lips curve in a thin line and she simply hangs up.

 

"You did a good job decorating the restaurant. I'm gonna go prepare the turkey."

 

Sehun's mother gives him a warm smile but the sad cloud upon her head doesn't vanish. It just stays there, spreading a bad aura and gloominess. When she starts working in the kitchen, though, the cloud turns into a fresh summer breeze and Sehun swears he saw her singing with a cleaver in her hand. 

 

Lunch is busy as always. Mr. Oh wears his chef's uniform with his name sewed on it in salmon pink and knots a bandana on his forehead. Knife in his left hand and whisk in his right one and he's ready to make some magic between burners. Mrs. Oh facepalms -did se really marry this man or did she find him inside an Easter egg?- but doesn't hide a smile. Sehun adjusts his black apron and brings the first order to the kitchen only ten minutes after the 'closed' sign had been turned around. It's a cute young couple, probably college students who decided to take a break from studying. They order two desserts and a pot of aromatized tea, exactly like the mother and son that come in right after midday. 

 

Sehun swings between tables with trays and plates in his hands, occasionally bowing and saying goodbye to the clients. Sometimes his mother would come out and greet her friends that came to visit, trying to bring Sehun along with her as in saying ' _hey look I made this creature_ '. There's pride in her eyes and that's enough to make him blush. 

Clients are fewer and fewer as times passes by. The kitchen closes right when the clock strikes three in the afternoon, and there are only three couples left. Sehun is washing the counter with a yellow sponge when the door opens, but this time it's not a client. 

 

"Would you like to buy a rose?" 

 

Sehun sees the colorful bouquet held by pretty little hands, the messy black hair and a pair of tired eyes for the second time in a day. This time, though, the boy is facing the same college students that came in a while ago, hoping that the girl would beg her boyfriend for a rose. And she does. She picks a big red rose and brings it to her nostrils, sniffing the flower's sweet scent happily. The boyfriend hands the boy a thousand won and Sehun can hear that soft ' _thanks sir_ ' once more. The remaining couples don't buy anything. One man shakes his hand like he's trying to get rid of a bug instead of a human, while another woman looks at the boy with such disgusted eyes that Sehun has to look away. The flower boy bows a little and then walks out of the restaurant, a thousand won in his pocket and hurt painted all over his young face. 

 

"Those Chinese immigrants think they can come here and steal our jobs…why can't they stay in China? They are just thieves and I bet every one of them is involved with mafia for sure. Tsk."

 

Sehun simply nods in agreement at the lady and takes a few bills from her hands. She surely hasn't any financial problem, otherwise her nails wouldn't be cured and painted professionally, and her bag wouldn't have LV written all over it. She smiles and Sehun does the same, watching her as she struts towards the door. He hopes a bird poops right on his hideous hair.

 

Sehun spends the rest of the day talking on the phone with Chanyeol, a dear friend of his, and sipping his favorite bubble tea with a pleased expression on his face. They decide to meet right before Sehun has to get back to work and all they do is walk around the neighborhood. Chanyeol talks and complains, complains again and after a few words he complains some more.

 

"-and that's not fair, I mean, she was supposed to be my date, not Baekhyun's. Sehun? Earth to Sehun? Are you listening?" 

 

"Yeah, sure. Baekhyun. Uhm. Ok."

 

Chanyeol gives him a worried look and puts a hand on his shoulder.

 

"We're bros, alright? You can tell me anything, anytime."

 

Sehun nods absently and looks around. He's not hoping to find a colorful bouquet walking around and he's definitely not hoping to get a chance to chat with the flower boy. Except he is. 

 

"I've got to get back, my parents are probably waiting for me. Let's talk later, alright?"

 

Chanyeol gives him another weird look but ends up nodding anyway since Sehun is already jogging towards the opposite side of the road. 

 

Dinner is almost busier than lunch. The kitchen looks like a battlefield and Mr. Oh is about to have an heart attack. Sehun runs here and there, his eyes are fixed on the clients' orders and for a second he even forgets his own name. Everytime he hears the bell ring, his polite smile fades a little. There's so many people and smoke comes out from his nostrils when an annoying kid hits his face against Sehun's legs, almost making him drop a tray full of hot soups. 

 

Eventually they make it through the evening and seeing that 'closed' sign has never felt so good. Mrs. Oh sits at one of the tables and starts doing some paperwork (Sehun tried once but he kept crossing his eyes and those numbers were just confusing) with a nice cup of coffee. Sehun scrubs the tables with a clean cloth and he can't help but feel disappointed towards himself. What did he expect? It's not like the flower boy can always step inside every single day at every single hour. Maybe, after what the lady said earlier, the flower boy decided to avoid the restaurant. Maybe he thought they were all racist. Who said he was Chinese, anyways? He could be Korean for what they knew. It's not like Chinese people walk around with the words 'made in China' tattooed on their foreheads. 

He looks at the pink roses he bought this morning and sighs. 

 

"Sehun, you've been cleaning that spot for the past five minutes."

 

"Yeah, umm, I'm just tired I guess."

 

Sehun stops scrubbing invisible stains and folds the cloth neatly. 

 

"You can go home, it's almost two. Have some rest."

 

His mother smiles and hands him the apartment keys and a plastic bag filled with leftovers. Sehun says goodbye to his parents and leaves the restaurant, hiding himself in his white scarf so the wind won't transform him into a giant popsicle. The sky is slowly turning violet, sign that a snowstorm isn't that far. Sehun walks fast on the sidewalk and reaches the underground in less than a couple of minutes. He sees a man lying on a bench, snoring, covered with pieces of paper and dirty cloths; it can't be the flower boy, no, he's smaller and he always carries around that rose bouquet. He walks past the sleeping homeless and shoves a hand into his pocket to grab the ticket (thank god he always carries one spare ticket) and that's when a bunch of roses catch his attention. The boy beside them is sitting with his back pressed against the cold wall, head hidden between arms and a cup with some change in front of his worn-out converse. 

Sehun swallows and a knot as big as a watermelon in his throat forces him to cough a few times. Without even realizing it, he walks until he's right in front of him. Sehun bends his knees just a little so he can leave the bag of leftovers on the floor and head back home. Suddenly, he doesn't feel sleepy anymore. He feels every kind of emotion all in once and it's not pleasant at all. 

 

A last look at the plastic bag on the floor and he's ready to walk away. It's cold, he needs a warm bath and after that then he'll slip into a peaceful coma. Sehun makes his way towards the trains and he doesn't notice a pair of big watery eyes following him. 

 

* * *

 

Sehun thanks his mom with a kiss on the cheek when she gives him a day off. Last night was the worst night of his life and if he tries hard enough, he can still hear kids crying and clients chatting loudly over a nice cup of noodles. 

He's lazily eating a spoonful of cereals when Chanyeol sends him a text. 

 

 _'dude fifa 15 is finally available at gamestop we've got to buy it_ ' 

 

Sehun gulps and tries not to choke to death  _but oh my god_   _fifa 15 is finally available at gamestop_ and the first thing he does after finishing breakfast is dressing up and running towards the city center so he can grab a copy of the game for the two of them. His eyes are still a bit sticky and there's a small milk stain on his Star Wars t-shirt but it's not like it matters. 

 

The queue looks insane and Sehun has to wait a whole hour to finally feel the video game in his hands but it's so worth it. He quickly sends a text to Chanyeol with a thumbs up emoji and he receives a ' _FUCK YES_ ' back. Walking like he's God, Sehun sends another text, this time to Jongin, and three seconds later he finds himself hitting the sidewalk with his butt. Ok, that was unnecessary. The classic 'watch where you're going' dies in his throat right when he sees roses all over the ground. The flower boy is on his knees trying to save most of them, but a few are literally being crushed over careless people's shoes. Sehun shakes his head and helps the boy without any second thought, handing him a dozen of pretty white roses afterwards. 

 

"I'm sorry, I didn't really-"

 

"It's alright. Thank you."

 

The angles of the flower boy's lips are slightly curved and Sehun can see a thick red line under his eyes. He'd like to ask him about last night's leftovers and what kind of soup he likes the most, but the other is already back on his feet and walking away. Good job, Sehun.

 

"I'd like to buy a rose!"

 

He shouts suddenly, waving a hand in the air. The boy's cheeks turn red when he finds two thousands won resting in his palm and his mind can't erase the image of Sehun walking away without any rose, shy smile on his face.

 

* * *

 

Between working at his parents' restaurant and living on bubble tea, Sehun finds some time to walk around Seoul and just enjoy himself. There are Christmas lights literally everywhere, shops are completely colored in red and green, fake Santas run after kids just to give them candy and everything smells like cinnamon. There are families laughing together, there are couple holding hands, there are kids playing near parks and then there's the flower boy. Sehun sees him everyday. He tries to sell roses with a smile and bows when people shake their heads. His eyes become crescent moons when his bouquet lacks some flowers, and his lips turn into a thin line when he realizes it remained the same all day. Sometimes Sehun sees him standing in front of some shops, counting money between his fingers and simply walking away with heavy shoulders. 

Sehun couldn't count how many times his heart died a little from seeing scenes like that even if he wanted to; he would be already dead. 

 

On Christmas night, after each client has left the restaurant to go back home, Sehun takes out the trash and the flower boy is sitting near the doorstep, the bouquet completely destroyed. That's when he loses it. Sehun takes his bony hand and forces him to enter the restaurant, making him sit on a table for two. He asks his father for some noodles and wraps his own scarf around the boy's thin neck. 

 

"It's ok," Sehun says when the boy hides his face in his dirty hands and starts crying his poor heart out.

 

"I don't have enough money to pay for this meal," the boy manages to say between tears and sobs. Sehun shuts him up with another order of ramyun. 

 

Behind the kitchen doors, Mr. and Mrs. Oh look at the scene but not a word is spoken. The chef glances at her and he knows that expression too well. He places a hand over her shoulder and she smiles, nodding afterwards. 

 

Luhan, that is the boy's name (which Sehun thinks is as pretty as his face), is sixteen and he's Chinese. He stepped out of the railway station for the first time two months ago, searching for his last relative left alive. His parents died in an earthquake that hit Beijing not long ago and when he knocked on his aunt's door, she didn't even bother opening it. An old florist let him take a bouquet of roses once a week just because he pitied him. And that's pretty much it.

 

"You are not going back out there," Mrs. Oh declares when the first snow starts covering the streets in a thin white layer. Mr. Oh nods in agreement and Luhan starts crying again when Sehun hugs him and whispers a soft ' _come home with us_ '.

 

* * *

 

On the 21st December, 20-year-old Sehun wakes up to find a cold empty space next to him. His fingertips run over the pillow and the blankets, but there's no one on his bed. He picks up a note his lover left on the kitchen table and smiles. 

 

'i'm helping your mother stuff the turkey, can't wait to see you xoxo'

 

Sehun steps into the restaurant and watches Luhan as he gently ties his black apron around his waist. The Chinese boy turns his pretty round face towards him and smiles widely, letting Sehun run his fingers through his dyed blond hair. 

 

"I got you a present. It's not much, so don't expect anything special, alright?"

 

Luhan frees himself from Sehun's warm lips and walks to the counter, grabbing something and quickly hiding it behind his back. He shuffles back to Sehun with a sheepish smile.

 

"Happy anniversary," Luhan says, offering his lover two pink roses.


End file.
